Zack Snyder's Army Of The Dead & Rebel Moon Are Set In The Same Universe - Here's How
After spending years adapting comic books into films, director Zack Snyder seems determined to launch his own original franchises. This could be seen with 2021's "Army of the Dead" on Netflix, which received a spinoff with "Army of Thieves" and several others supposedly in the works. And he's doing something similar with "Rebel Moon," which has been split into two films that will come out months apart on Netflix. But these aren't merely two franchises he's launched; they're one mega-franchise, as they're set in the same universe.
In the newest issue of Total Film, with portions republished by GamesRadar+, Snyder mentions how the two vastly different stories intersect: "'Army of the Dead' has a pretty vast mythology that never made it into the movie. There's actually a character from 'Rebel Moon' in the 'Army of the Dead' animated series that we never did." An animated "Army of the Dead" series was supposed to come out shortly after the film and "Army of Thieves," but it was never completed. Snyder elaborates on how it would've brought the two worlds together: "At one point in the show, they go through a portal into another dimension, and there are characters in that other dimension that they come across. In 'Rebel Moon,' they're in this bar, and one of the aliens is one of the characters from the animatic. So it's definitely a shared universe."
"Army of the Dead" may have had zombies, but it remained grounded on Earth. It sounds like more science-fiction ideas would've populated the franchise, giving it a more intergalactic vibe. And perhaps a crossover could still be in the cards depending on the success of "Rebel Moon."
The animated Army of the Dead show was nearly complete
To be fair, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to put "Army of the Dead" and "Rebel Moon" in the same shared universe. Even without a portal linking the two, "Army of the Dead" takes place on Earth while "Rebel Moon" occurs on distant worlds. They could absolutely take place in the same universe without the events of one really impacting the other. However, if the animated show had actually happened, it would've made for a fun Easter egg for diehard fans to catch.
It's a shame it never ended up getting completed, because Zack Snyder makes it sound like "Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas" was almost done anyway. He explains, "We did all the scripts and the animatics, and all the voices are recorded. So you could watch it, even in its crazy animatic form – you can watch the whole run." "Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas" would've depicted the early days of the zombie outbreak, which is already fertile ground to cover, but by the sound of it, the show would've incorporated interplanetary portals, too.
But even if "Lost Vegas" never comes out, there will likely be plenty of other opportunities to connect the two franchises. Zack Snyder has previously confirmed that "Army of the Dead 2" is still in the works. If it picks up where the first left off, the zombie apocalypse could spread all over the globe. Perhaps the sequel will incorporate a portal somehow to include elements of "Rebel Moon." This may be a bit of a stretch, but a straight-up crossover could theoretically happen, according to this information. A Zack Snyder-directed movie about zombies in space may be just the thing the world needs right now.